Death Truck is weird. The story is about one woman’s battle to take down a sentient truck so a certain amount of weirdness was to be expected, but Death Truck is really, really weird.

Imagine someone took an old B-movie and made a series of spray-paint pictures of the scenes in said movie. The result of such an experiment would look a lot like this comic. The book starts with a gritty army commander claiming that they had gone too far, and quickly moves on to the titular Death Truck claiming victims in an area one would not normally expect to find a truck.

Sadly, Death Truck rarely gets this bombastic again. As a book, it does have its moments, but most of the plot is not as over the top as the initial pages would suggest. There are relatively few action set pieces, and at times the book leaves the impression that there is potential for more weirdness that was left untapped. When it does get into its stride though, it is a strong example of how the medium of comics can approach the content of a B-movie.

This is perhaps best represented by its art style. The graffiti-esque drawings reflect the mood of the book at any one point and showcase its grungy, gory, over the top nature. This approach of choosing to reflect the feel of the writing over drawing characters in a realistic fashion is a perfect fit for the story being told in the comic.

This is a loud, messy, strange book, and that is exactly what it is trying to be. In some ways, it is a more difficult book to review because it should become quickly apparent whether or not it is something that will be enjoyed by a particular reader. If that reader is looking for something that is the literary equivalent of a dumb exploitation movie, with all the sex and violence that entails, then this may prove to be the book for them, even if it doesn’t always live up to the inherent zanies of the genre. Creator Paul J Johnson has made it clear what he wants this book to be and sticks to that vision. If a reader is not already in the mood for this style of content this book can be safely skipped.

DEATH TRUCK / CREATOR: PAUL P J JOHNSON / PUBLISHER: BEAT THE DEMON COMIX / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 15th